Hi! I'm barbex from the960writers and barbex and I want you to write your story. Masterposts. The Discord server. Check out the960writers for more writing advice.
Writing in the summer, with camaraderie, deadlines, and accountability.
June, July, and August
Announcement is here, first post here.
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Ongoing:
Planning all the plans!
Last day of the month we make writing plans for the coming month. Post is here.
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Ongoing:
SloMo WriNo, Write your novel in a year
Welcome to The Slower Moving way to Write a Novel! Or SloMoWrino for short.
This challenge doesn't focus on getting you to write faster, but on developing a solid writing habit, and writing your novel in a more relaxed way.
This project is run by Maree and the first post is here.
You can subscribe to the #slomowrino tag to make sure you see all the posts here, or subscribe to Maree's substack.
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The projects through the years:
2025:
May and June 2025:
Sunday, May 4 until Sunday, June 29 2025.
Daily writing, set your own goal, make a post about hitting your goal, get a star. Post is here.
Getting to know your story (through writing it)
A special writing event for discovery writers. Masterpost is here. Here is the last post with links to all the advice. You can still follow along with these posts at your own pace.
Write your novel in 2024 2025
Slow and steady, write and finish your novel this year.
The masterpost is here, or start here at the first post and go through the tag #slomowrino. Subscribe to the substack to get everything in one place
2024:
Write 40k in 42 days
Start: 4th of August 2024
End: 14th of September 2024
40k First post is here.
Write a short story in 60 days
Write and finish a short story to publish yourself or submit it to traditional publishers.
The start post is here and the tag is #60daysshortstory. this project is done, but you can still use the resources.
2023:
Fall of 2023, the begin of SloMoWriNo https://www.tumblr.com/the-wip-project/736076610461138944/slomo-wrino-master-post
Spring 2023, the start with a special writing docket to download: https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/711609740849037313/the-wip-project-2023
2022:
Here’s the masterpost for 2022’s 90 days to first draft: https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/676795295564234752/the-wip-project-2022-masterpost
2021:
100 days of writing. The tag is here, and here are four posts I find especially notable about The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger:
Two short projects in this year. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/190175623889/the-wip-project-2020 and https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/627604336988618752/im-so-busy-are-you-busy-too-i-was-trying-to
Note how I keep pushing for accountability posts. I'm convinced that accountability posts are the key to getting shit done, but very few people actually do it.
2019:
Where it all started, complete with a sign-up form and prizes. The prizes made everything extremely stressful for me, so I'm not doing that again 😂😂😂. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/185566159309/the-wip-project-2019
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After I posted my goals last week I kind of change my mind a little bit lol I decided that I really want to try and wrap up LoMLoL by the time I go on vacation next week. I would say I made good progress last week:
I edited and uploaded 2 chapters
wrote around 2k for chapter 18
This week my goals are:
edit and upload 2 more chapters
finish chapter 18, which is going to be the last chapter
not sure if I'll manage a little epilogue, probably not, but that's fine. I just want to get this story to a point where it has a decent ending, I'm open to adding some bits and pieces to it later
Thank you again for the @the-wip-project for this motivating event <3
6/21: 250/200 (did a otp ask thing so i'm guesstimating)
6/22: 467/200 + posted Day One of Lucanis Week and 1st chapter of new fanfic.
6/23: 701/200 + posted Day Two of Lucanis Week.
6/24: 717/200 + posted Day Three of Lucanis Week.
6/25: 1,184/200 + posted Day Four of Lucanis Week.
6/26: 73/200 + posted Day Five of Lucanis Week.
6/27: 497/200 + posted Day Six of Lucanis Week.
Overall I continued writing everyday, even if I didn't hit my word count yesterday b/c of IRL stuff. Next month is going to be hard because I'm going on pretty much back-to-back trips but I'm going to try my hardest to write everyday. @the-wip-project
I had to look it up, but yes, this is indeed week 5 of summer writing.
I — unknowingly — became a heat wave refugee, as I'm currently sitting up on a mountain in Norway at 11 degrees Celsius, with my feet wrapped in a blanket. I'm very sorry for everyone stuck in the oven that is central Europe right now.
Writing wise, it's difficult to find the time, the space, and the mindset to write for me, what with driving and camping. Instead I switched to using my time for reading, which gives me new ideas and new words I can shove into my vocabulary, so I consider this adjacent to writing.
As I was thinking about my story (also adjacent to writing, yay me!), I can see that certain point coming up that always comes up for me when writing an original story. The point where it turns into work, where it drags and needs so much filling of the middle and worldbuilding and structure and all that. That's the point when I doubt myself, when I'm sure that this is all stupid and I'm just not a writer at all.
I'm sure a lot of us know this feeling. There is always that nagging voice in the back of my mind saying something like "if you were any good at this, it wouldn't be so hard" and "look at you struggling with this part, you know real writers have fun at this point?". Yeah, my writing brain is a real bitch.
But I came across an interesting article here:
Struggling with creative work doesn’t mean you’re failing
This post describes that creative work is a different kind of task than other things we are doing. If we do something difficult, like the author of the article training for a marathon, we expect difficulties. They are part of the process. But creative work has no set framework like that. We don't know what kind of difficulties to expect and they catch us off-guard.
The author compares it to making a cake from a recipe and creating a new recipe for a new cake. If you follow the recipe, you can reasonably expect to get a good cake out of that. You might encounter some difficulties like whipping the butter just right, but the process is kind of set for success.
But if you want to come up with a brand new cake, there will be a lot of trial and error, there will be failures, there will be several cakes that are not so great, where the recipe needs refinement, until you find the right combination that works. That's also a process, just not a linear one like following a recipe.
All of this is to say: the struggle is normal. Running into difficulties doesn't mean we don't know what we're doing. Difficulties are not a sign of failure.
So if your writing brain is as nasty as mine, tell it to shut up and put up. We got writing to do, we don't have time to worry about difficulties.
Have a good summer writing week!
~ barbex
Here's the new calendar for this week, as always you can find all the files at the google drive:
Week 3 Recap
for the @the-wip-project Summer Writing Challenge
Goals • Week 1 • Week 2
Week 3:
Words: 1,255 / 1,167
Minutes Outlining: 30 / 30
Snippet from this week's writing and reflections below.
This week was more of a struggle! I've hit my favorite stage of any project: thinking that this idea is the worst/dumbest one I've ever had and that people will, rather than reading the fic, laugh at how ridiculous the premise is and excommunicate me from fandom.
I am trying to tell myself that this happens every time, no matter how good or bad I think my original idea was. Plus I've written weirder/flimsier/sillier ideas and they've turned out fine to good! Some people have even enjoyed them!
Pushed through that and kept on a steady pace week over week. This week will be harder because I'm not going to be home for most of next weekend (weather permitting), so I'll have to write more during the week... which will already be busy as I prep for the weekend. I might be able to bring my notebook with me and do my plotting/scene outlining instead.
To end on a positive note: this is the most consistent writing I've done since February 2025. This is a good thing regardless of the outcome!
Snippet
Rocky was quiet for a moment, before letting out a wheezing sound that Ryland* realized was a laugh. “Hey!”
[Apology,] Rocky said, not sounding apologetic in the least. [Is just very dumb thing to do.]
* I know, I know. Still bouncing back and forth between calling him Ryland or Grace in this one. It really feels like it should be Ryland, which I know is not something that this fandom enjoys. All the more reason for self-doubt!!
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Despite last week being super busy with irl stuff I made good progress
wrote 500 words for chapter 18 of LoMLoL ✅
edited and posted chapter 13 ✅
brainstormed my original idea ✅
I even started to edit ch 14 on the weekend
This week I want to:
write at least another 500 words for chapter 18, hopefully more
edit and post chapter 14. I considered posting 2 chapters this week, since chapter 14 is almost ready to go, but I'm catching up on myself fast here. We'll see, depending on how I'm doing with the ending of this fic
continue brainstorming my original idea. Hopefully I'll decide some good names this week
I have to admit, it's not been going so great for me. I've actually been feeling a bit frustrated that I'm not making more progress on my main project, and instead am only managing to poke along slowly on what's supposed to be a small side fanfic.
But when I stop and think about it, it's great that I'm writing anything at all.
After all, I'm in the middle of a home renovation, as well as under a (self created) deadline to finish a knitting project. I've got enough serious tasks going on in my life right now. I don't have the bandwidth for anything else.
But because of this challenge I've still been managing to write something each day. Which is pretty great when I think about everything else going on.
I bet a lot of you are in the same boat! When major stuff starts happening in your life, or simply competing commitments, it's easy to let the writing fall by the wayside. But if you're participating in this challenge, that means you don't want to let that happen!
But that doesn't mean it helps automatically. When you're making your plan for week four, make sure you think about all your commitments, so you can find the right balance.
But what if things have been so hectic that the writing has been shut down completely?
Try approaching it from the perspective of carving out a bit of time and space just for yourself. You may not be used to thinking about writing in the same way as self care, but for me it soothes and balances me out to have my writing time. If you think about it like that— well! Writing time is essential, right?
Anyway, your word prompt for this week is, naturally, Balance. Use however you want. And think about finding a balance in your busy schedule that makes time for you, and for your writing.
I have to admit, it's not been going so great for me. I've actually been feeling a bit frustrated that I'm not making more progress on my main project, and instead am only managing to poke along slowly on what's supposed to be a small side fanfic.
But when I stop and think about it, it's great that I'm writing anything at all.
After all, I'm in the middle of a home renovation, as well as under a (self created) deadline to finish a knitting project. I've got enough serious tasks going on in my life right now. I don't have the bandwidth for anything else.
But because of this challenge I've still been managing to write something each day. Which is pretty great when I think about everything else going on.
I bet a lot of you are in the same boat! When major stuff starts happening in your life, or simply competing commitments, it's easy to let the writing fall by the wayside. But if you're participating in this challenge, that means you don't want to let that happen!
But that doesn't mean it helps automatically. When you're making your plan for week four, make sure you think about all your commitments, so you can find the right balance.
But what if things have been so hectic that the writing has been shut down completely?
Try approaching it from the perspective of carving out a bit of time and space just for yourself. You may not be used to thinking about writing in the same way as self care, but for me it soothes and balances me out to have my writing time. If you think about it like that— well! Writing time is essential, right?
Anyway, your word prompt for this week is, naturally, Balance. Use however you want. And think about finding a balance in your busy schedule that makes time for you, and for your writing.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Hosted (and banner too) by the lovely @the-wip-project as always, when you see stuff like this pop up from me, lol. What can I say, I love every event of theirs.
Anyway, veeery late start but only post-wise! Hectic life and whatnot, but we’re here. So, my project for this summer remains Sasin and my goal is basically to either finish it or get as close to finishing it as possible. Reach ACT 3 the least.
I’ve been rewriting the beginning, because there was a major plot problem that I needed to corret, but I’m slowly catching back up to the chapters that only needs light editing before I could continue onward!
So far, it still seems that my prime time for writing is going at it right after waking up. My mind is able to focus then, compared to the cluttered state that needs a looong decluttering after work. So I’m aiming to do just that, and write at that time with more or less success. It’s best managable when I’m at home office, which is hopefully three times a week so whoop.
Okay but in numbers. So far I’ve managed to write 13,329 words since the start of June. It's pretty good, given that I usually scrape 10k words at all when I do monthly wc counting. (especially as i'm a part of rough draft month challenge too and have a soft goal of 30k to end the month with lol, we'll see). Anyway, I really like the direction I'm going, and this new version is much much stronger, so happy so far.
Will try to keep myself to post weekly until the end of summer, though! Wishing anyone who's participating much luck, happy writing y'all! <3
(I completely forgot about posting my progress, sorry)
My goal was to write at least 200 words a day and so far, I'm doing pretty good. I didn't write every day but since I usually exceed my own goal I think it's fine.
Summer Writing Challenge - Update and Week 3 Goals
(writing challenge by @the-wip-project)
Okay, so I only wrote one day last week, but considering I also had the biggest exam of my master's program happening, I can't even be mad at myself about it. Sometimes I have to prioritize real life over writing fanfic. Alas.
This week I'm returning to my original goal of 100 words a day. Which is a bit of a stretch goal, because I have family visiting all week, but I want to make it happen!
I was just reminded of a lovely writing challenge I had said I was interested in taking part in earlier on. A set-your-own-goal deal for WIP writing or Wip finishing, @the-wip-project. For June, I'm going to start small and see whether I can revise it next month.
I'm gonna go for 15 minutes writing time per day, working on any of my Cowboy & Hellcat wips (with special attention given to chapter 10 of I Never Asked For Company, lol)
omg two days in a row idk I know two days in a row isn't much but I have been feeling so funky lately it feels like a win. Some of these 433 words were [brief reminders to expand on] like this but I feel like this is character growth for me. Usually I'd go research horse behaviour or whatever and run out of writing time (I only had 15 minutes but I made sure to write for most of them)
Is there anything I like in it? There's some Victorian Yearning ™ so that's a win
Day 3: 1514 words in 72 minutes! yayyyy I managed to get a lot of time for writing today, though much of it was in 15 minute sprints. :)
The chapter is still... well. Not nearly done. but soon I'll get to write a scene roping a horse, so that'll be fun. Action! Gazing appreciatively upon the form! You know! Who knows how long this chapter will be. I've decided not to think about it
I think I missed yesterday, but honestly I'm not surprised. Weekends are super busy for me, I can't believe I got 70 minutes of writing time on saturday, lol. Today was also fairly hectic but I'm glad I had this lil commitment to making writing time to spur (ha. horse joke) me on. I also had so many ideas to make this section I'm working on more exciting, so that's fun. It's Bede's turn to look at Arthur and be like "oh.... damn...." Horny Looking and Other Misadventures
Omg I nearly forgot to post. Anyway I feel like mentioning o I like to take my Arthur on little cross country adventures to mimic what happens in the fic when I can (big reason Arthur is in these states in 1897. I simply love to explore the world. I will not be taking John on *any* adventures for plotting purposes I will replay the Bronte glitch and whinge about the repetitive music the whole time. Also I will ditch John immediately. He's not invited)
Uh where was I? I want to let the record show that the environment is doing everything it can to get Arthur and Bede close to each other it's actually kind of funny
Week 2 Recap
for the @the-wip-project Summer Writing Challenge
Goals • Week 1
Week 2:
Words: 1,244 / 1,167
Minutes Outlining: 45 / 30
My therapist is always telling me I should take the win instead of immediately minimizing it so... met my goals for the second week in a row, and even exceeded both!
It was an interesting week though. I had some bigger writing days and therefore met my goal well before the end of the week... which I thought would translate into me writing even more after that and blowing the goal out of the water. That did not happen!
Honestly I felt like writing went sooo much better this week, and it was super disappointing to see that my word count barely exceeded week 1.
Anyway, part of the reason for all of that is because I had another busy-ish weekend. But I also want to consider/be mindful of falling into a trap where if I've met my goal, I feel like don't have to do anything more. (And of course, I don't have to do anything more. This isn't the gulag. But I also don't want to lose whatever momentum I have going.)
Speaking of momentum, I feel like I finally have some. Last week, I mentioned that trying to write though my block was showing me what wasn't working in the story and forcing me to sort that out/find a different angle. Well, I took that different path and I like it much better, which led to those bigger writing days. Probably a lesson to learn there. I don't particularly like the lesson. But it's there.
Also really wrestling with some core questions in the longer story I'm trying to outline, which led to me coming back and doing even more thinking/brainstorming/freewriting about them the next day. I'm getting a little frustrated that I don't have them all figured out yet, but I feel like I'm at least circling what the eventual solutions will be. (See also: lesson above.)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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so, first the obvious: last week's goals got completely hijacked by me getting inspired to write 'seduced'. I'm not complaining though bc I had a ton of fun, and I averaged a 1000 words per day. If only I could get this kind of momentum for my other projects!!! oh well
I also managed to edit and post chapter 12 of 'the laws of magic and the laws of love' like I planned. Everything else gets rolled over to this week ^^"
so, my goals for week 3 of @the-wip-project's summer event are:
